Trailer Being

The other day, I tried to put a horse in a trailer. I didn’t want to do it, as I have no real experience with trailer loading. But I had an agenda; I needed the horse at my place for rehabilitation and some basic re-training, so I took my trailer to his place to pick him up and bring him home. The owner and I tried putting him in the trailer. He went in, and then he came out. I tried to convince him to stay in and he insisted on getting out. I didn’t want to fight with him but it was so frustrating to have him go inside only to immediately get right back out again. I just wanted to take him home and do great things with him, but the horse couldn’t understand my future intentions. All he knew is that when he went in the first time, we tried to trap him in a little metal box. I asked the horse to get back in the trailer again, but he wouldn’t. Other people arrived to “help” and they all claimed to know how to “get a horse in a trailer” and since I wasn’t having any luck I thought, why not? The whole focus was on getting him in and by now he wouldn’t go in, let alone stay in. Meanwhile the horse’s anxiety is increasing to the point of making him dangerous. The owner and I felt powerless and wanted to trust the more “experienced” people. After watching with a hopeful heart it unfortunately became clear however that the horse was being traumatized. The owner called a “stop” to it and Ferronato arrived in response to my SOS. She proceeded to show the horse’s owner and myself how to put a horse in a trailer in a manner that he would feel comfortable with the request. He went in. He came out. She said “cool” and let him get out. He went in. He came out. Each time he went in and out was smoother than the last and each time he was allowed to leave the trailer when his anxiety became too much for him. It was beautiful to watch the trust building between Ferronato and the horse as she helped him through this process. Each time he went in, he stayed a few seconds longer until he would feel anxious and back out. He was fine with trailer loading. He was not fine with TRAILER BEING.

The owner now had a choice. He could load the horse, slam the door and transport the horse despite his stress and anxiety. He could force him to endure the 45 minute drive while in a panic attack like state, causing him to continue to be stressed out whenever he has to be in a trailer in the future. Or he could accept his horse’s comfort level and allow him to take his time (in this case even extending the process to another lesson on a different day) becoming comfortable with being in the trailer. He could allow his horse to master trailer being which is defined by the horse being relaxed, comfortable and confident while in the trailer, a skill he will then always have.

Which one would you choose?

The owner chose to wait. Ferronato returned two days later and again let the horse go in and out of the trailer- being a smoother transition and a longer stay inside each time. Until finally the horse decided he was tired of going in and out and decided it was easier to stay inside the trailer. He was then smoothly and calmly transported to my place. Clearly, I had let my agenda override the horse’s need for additional training on trailer being. All too often we have an agenda or a checklist of things that we think need to happen (usually physical things like hoof care, vet procedures, or travel) when in fact we are overlooking the more powerful emotional and mental needs of our horses. Horses are often ruled by their emotions and are very sensitive to the energy of the situation. Think of a time when you went to a doctor and they had you in and out in five minutes, but never really made eye contact with you. They may have given you a medicine to treat a condition, but you leave feeling like they didn’t hear you or even see you. There was no emotional contact around that maybe you’re scared about being at the doctors or scared you might be getting a serious medical condition.

These needs are real for people and for horses. We have to learn to address all the needs of our horses equally: physical, mental, and emotional. In reality, it took less than two hours total of Ferronato working with this horse for him to become comfortable being inside the trailer. We were in such a hurry to get him in that first day that we overlooked the most important part of trailer loading: the horse's perspective. Now it seems silly to me that we would have rushed him into the trailer, but then have the same problems every time we tried to put him in a trailer after that. After watching and learning from Ferronato, I realize what a small investment of time two hours was, because trailer loading will be so much easier for that horse from now on. We may have to go through the same process again, but it will be shorter, safer, and more effective each time. What a gift to give that horse respect and understanding. I learned a lot from this experience. Unfortunately, a lot of what I learned is what NOT to do. But I also learned how to recognize when I might be putting my agenda before my horse’s anxieties and fears and to respect those feelings while still working through them. In the short term, I thought I wanted to get a horse in a trailer. Now I realize that I can teach horses how to be comfortable loading into and being inside a trailer. By helping them work through their fears, they will realize they can count on me to give them the time and support they need to work in out. To me, this is true partnership.

--Nicole Sulick
Nicole is a Three Treasures Farms Equine Massage Intern; her bio and contact information is available on our Intern Page.  You can meet Nicole at the 3TF Herb Walk on Sunday, May 20th. 

Herb Walk Sunday, May 20th

One of the things I appreciate about our non-profit is we are able to focus on ways to help people and horses on a long term basis. My father used to say to me when I was young, "It's better to teach someone how to fish than it is to give them one." We hope that with these Herb Walks people are empowered to save themselves thousands of dollars in health care with the knowledge and skills we will provide them and that they take this learning and help others heal themselves and their animal companions as well.

When I started my herbal education about ten years ago one of the things that I found challenging, was that although there was a lot of great information out there, there wasn't as much hands on learning as I wanted in the courses I took. I like to really practice something over and over, so having someone show me once how to make a tincture or give me written instructions on how to make a poultice, wasn't very helpful. One of the things I am most excited about with these Herb Walks is that we have a space in which people will be able to practice making vinegar, tinctures, poultices and trying out recipes so that they can incorporate what they have learned about herbs easily into their daily lives. It is so easy and simple to start living a healthier life, that for most of us we don't believe it's possible until someone hand walks us through the experience. I am amazed at how the small shifts and subtle ways I have included herbs into my daily life have dramatically improved my health over the last year. I began studying herbs to improve the health of my animals and it's only recently that I started opening up my own awareness to the advantages herbs provide me for my own health. The cost for one of our Herb Walks is $75 per person. Tuition fees help cover the cost of the supplies we need to allow participants to make and take home sample tinctures, vinegar and our wonderful colored hand-outs so they can repeat the experience over and over again. All proceeds go to help care for the horses of Three Treasures Farms. Please join us on this marvelous learning adventure. 

A big Thank You to Nicole Sulick for lending her passion and years of expertise with herbs to teaching this class for us!

Buyer Beware

There is nothing unique about this experience. It happens frequently in the horse industry, but the point is it shouldn’t. A man buys a horse, the horse turns out to have problems man knew nothing about prior to purchase. Although a recent situation with a horse one of my Interns is working on inspired this post, it has been a recurring theme for my entire horse career, starting with my own purchase of my very first horse.  In the coming months we will be following Cimarron’s training with posts from both myself and my intern, Nicole Sulick.  We hope to educate and help keep others from making the all-too-common mistake of getting in over their head by purchasing a horse that turns out not to be what they bargained for. I would both encourage and caution you that if you are interested in purchasing a horse to pay a trained professional to assist you and to be careful that, if that professional is your trainer, they have your best interest at heart.

As part of 3TF’s Massage Intern program, Interns are required to work on horses under my supervision. Nicole had been working with Cimarron, a lovely brown Quarter Horse, since the end of January for massage, along with some training, as he was having some behavioral issues that affected Nicole’s ability to massage him. Nicole submitted notes for my review, and presented her experiences to the Intern class. I gave Nicole suggestions and recommendations, but she felt like she was continuing to struggle since the horse just didn’t seem to be making the progress other horses that she worked on did. She discussed her concerns with me, and at this point I felt it was time to see for myself what was going on. Nicole and I decided the best thing was for me to meet the horse and provide a professional massage for him, with Nicole available to observe and ask questions.

When we got to where Cimarron was boarded, he was standing tied to a horse trailer. I prefer to use a round pen or arena for a massage so that I can watch the horse move freely, which has the added benefit of warming up the muscles as well.  I also find horses tend to be more receptive to massage when not tied up. I find this method safer for me, too, as the horse does better when he sees he has room to move if he needs it and does feel trapped. I knew this facility did not have either. I could also tell just by looking at the horse when we pulled up that he wasn’t going to be comfortable, no matter what I did. Because of this, I decided to jump in and start working with the horse while he was tied.

The first thing that struck me was how tight Cimarron’s muscles were over his entire body. He held himself in such a state of anxiety that all his muscles appeared to be firing at once as though his entire nervous system were on fire and ready for flight or fight. I was told that he was going off to a trainer’s in a couple of days to try and “fix” his training issues. Over the years I have learned to listen to my intuition and when listening to the plan I got this sick feeling in my stomach that I get when I shouldn’t do something. I didn’t know the trainer, but from what I knew of the horse I thought it would take a fairly special person to be able to integrate the body issues of this horse with his training problems. I also felt Nicole would be a more suitable choice than an unknown trainer, since I knew Nicole would ask for help and not allow ego to stand in the way of helping a horse. The owner said he would feel much more comfortable with this choice as well.  Nicole made the arrangements for the horse to come to where she boards her horse, which does have a round pen. The next step (and blog post in this series) would be getting him there.

Nettle

Continuing with our theme of misunderstood and underappreciated herbs, we come to Nettle (Urtica dioica). Most of us have spent our lives referring to this plant/weed/herb as “Stinging Nettles” because of the instant contact dermatitis reaction when we touch it. It hurts, it burns and it can leave lovely tiny blisters that continue to itch and burn.

Surprisingly, when it comes to taking Nettle internally, it’s like an entirely different plant. Nettle is a lovely mild herb internally that provides a wide variety of easily-assimilated minerals including calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins such as A, C, D, and B complex. It manages to do all this in a gentle manner that does not put stress on the liver, kidneys or digestive tract. Nettle is a great choice for those with chronic digestive or urinary tract problems. I have taken over half a cup in a day without noticing any unpleasant digestive consequences at all. I think I would get along better with vegetables if I could say that about more of them! Nettle is most associated with hair, skin and eyes, but it also provides relief for allergies when taken consistently.

Pre-flowering, Nettle can be harvested (long sleeves and gloves a must!) and dried, or it can be steamed and eaten as an asparagus substitute. I am not a good cooked vegetable eater, so I prefer my Nettle dried. I don’t notice a strong taste and I add it to everything, including tomato soup, eggs, oatmeal, and rice dishes. I don’t take vitamin supplements and since vegetables don’t always agree with me, Nettle has become my favorite way to insure I am getting a vitamin and mineral boost.

When it comes to the animals there are so many things I appreciate about Nettle. It makes everyone’s coat nicer. I have this purple measuring scoop which is about half a Tablespoon I use and the horses get anywhere from one and half scoops for Poppy, up to three scoops of the Nettle twice per day for some of larger horses. The way I gauge dosage is based primarily on coat hair quality. When their coats are nice and shiny and the dry flaky skin is gone, as just happened with Lucius, I know it’s the correct amount. Even though Nettle is associated with the eyes I was still surprised when I noticed several of my chronic “eye booger” horses (Konah, Poppy and Cassander) suddenly dried up, which is another way to help gauge when correct dosage has been achieved. I have been doing a great deal of work with my little dog Katie’s diet to help with some chronic dry, itchy skin issues on her hind end. Increasing her Nettle to a heaping tablespoon twice a day seems to have finally taken care of the problem. For Taylor, my digestively-challenged Great Dane, her coat took on a really beautiful hue of almost ebony black when her dose was increased to this amount as well.

Hopefully, the next time you are hiking and feel the burn, you will be able to appreciate this plant a little more than before.

Yellow Dock

In keeping with our theme of “herbs that we mistook for weeds”, probably no other herb has been as underappreciated by me as Yellow Dock (rumex crispus-- also commonly known as Curly Dock, for the wavy edges of its long leaves). We had been treating Nehalem’s liver with Burdock Root, when we started running low on funds for her herbs. It was late summer and I had pretty much exhausted our supply of Dandelion. I went to Heather at Mrs. Thompson’s Herbs for a suggestion and she said Yellow Dock is plentiful--I probably had some around the property-- and was excellent choice for what I needed. Armed with feeding instructions from Heather, I went home and looked up a picture of Yellow Dock so that I could go on the hunt for it. Upon seeing the picture in my Herbs for Pets book I laughed out loud. I have spent years digging this annoying, pervasive weed out of my horses’ pastures because it has a way of coming in with hay and taking over. Despite eating an entire humble pie composed of Yellow Dock, when Rachel suggested collecting some of the seeds from the few existing plants we had on the property so that we could plant some, I vetoed the idea. I simply could not bring myself to actually plant something I had such a history of removing. I was confident that we wouldn’t be able to keep Yellow Dock out of the fields if we wanted to and since there was plenty around at Whispering Meadows Equestrian Center and at friends’ fields we kept to just foraging for it as needed.

Yellow Dock is primarily used for the digestive tract, liver and skin. It stimulates bile production and helps clean the blood (this is what we were looking for to help Nehalem with her lymphoma). It also acts as a laxative. Yellow Dock is considered a quick cleansing herb. You will notice as you read our other blog posts we place a great deal of focus on the importance of getting the liver and intestines healthy, and Yellow Dock is an herb that gets right down to business in that department. Yellow Dock is an aggressive herb and not one that should be used long term. It works well with Dandelion, Marshmallow, and Slippery Elm. This is an excellent herb to feed if the problem is related to a need for a systemic flush.

Since Yellow Dock has a way of appearing to most of us as an annoying weed, make certain that the Yellow Dock you feed has not been subjected to chemical treatment. Now, when you are digging Yellow Dock out of your pasture, you can save and dry the root to be used whenever your horse might need a quick detox or liver boost. Just remember: a little bit goes a long way, so start out feeding minimal amounts, and monitor your horse carefully before increasing the dose.

The Sum of Our Parts

As we gear up to provide you with more stories and posts of our healing successes (and heartaches) it will be helpful to make certain we are all on the same page about Three Treasures Farms’ methods and beliefs when dealing with the health paradigm. We see all the horses as individuals and treat each horse on a case by case basis. We have also learned to focus on the big picture, recognizing symptoms for what they are (the tell-tale signs of underlying causes). This method requires a much higher degree of involvement, awareness and commitment than most Americans have traditionally experienced in health care. It also requires time, patience and a pro-active mind set. We will show you how we utilize the wisdom of alternative forms of health care while blending it with the advances of Western allopathic forms, in order to provide a more complete heath picture.

Most of us grew up learning that if you had a headache you took aspirin or Tylenol, if you had a stomachache you drank some pink stuff and it was fine. We never gave any thought to why we hurt or what our bodies might be trying to communicate to us with that pain. It takes a huge shift in the way we think to realize we are getting angry too easily and should therefore check in with how our liver is doing, or to try making the leap that the eczema on your leg may be due to a problem in the small intestines. Then there is the even greater leap in thinking about how the emotions you are experiencing and your thoughts may be planning a role in your health as well. Now imagine that you have to think about what is going on in the mind and emotional landscape of your animals accurately enough to use that information in choosing a healing route. It’s really not as easy as we make it look.

People tend to think in treatment terms of the antibiotic paradigm, which is you take this pill twice a day for ten days and the symptoms are gone. People will read about herbs or homeopathics and think “it does this” and when they take that herb or remedy they expect results instantly, and when they don’t get instant results they assume it’s because the herb or remedy doesn’t work. There is an art to working with herbs and homeopathic remedies that is not a linear equation. I tend to think of herbs in terms of friends. You have the friends you see regularly and depend on for emotional support. You have the friends you keep in touch with on Facebook. You have the friends you feel you don’t get to see enough, but love the time you have with them. You have the friends that can’t be around certain other friends, and you have the friends that you do things together with as a group. I often think about herbal formulas in terms of seating at a wedding reception. Mind you, I have never had to do this for myself, but have marveled at the headache it has caused several friends over the years. Over the next few months we will be introducing you to some of our healing friends and giving you the opportunity to make them your friends.

We invite you to take this interesting journey into a different health perspective and welcome your questions. We hope that you enjoy the process as much as we have.

Horse lessons learned on an Elephant Stand

During one of our advanced equine massage classes over the 2010 winter, we took a break from the usual trigger points and Pranic Healing to explore the trail course that had been set up for the Ranch Versatility Competition that had been held the previous day. The course included an "elephant stand"- a raised platform that is just big enough for a horse to stand on. One of the horses I worked with that day was Shekhinah. Shekhinah is a Danish Warmblood and Ferronato’s show and demo horse.

When we got to the elephant stand, Shekhinah would willingly step up with her front legs, but wanted to step the front legs down when stepping the hind legs onto the platform. The idea is to get all four legs on the stand, so after asking Shekhinah a few times with the same result, I asked Ferronato for assistance. Shekhinah stepped all four legs on the stand for Ferronato. As she stepped down, Ferronato told me to watch her hips and low back as Shekinah got down off the stand. It was easy to see that she was very tight and stiff in the area as she stepped down. At Ferronato's suggestion, I took Shekhinah aside and spent 10 minutes (or less) massaging her lower back and hips with a combination of trigger point and myofascial release. We then returned to the elephant stand where she proceeded to step up with all four feet on my first request A lightbulb went off in my head- it wasn't a behavior or training issue behind her unwillingness to get on the stand with all four legs in the beginning- it's that it was physically difficult and painful for her to execute the maneuver because of the tension in her body. I began to wonder, “How many ‘training’ issues are really bodywork issues?” It seemed that Shekhinah really benefited physically from the massage, but it also increased our understanding of one another for me to acknowledge and address that she is a physical being with a body that has physical limitations.

Nicole Sulick